Integrated circuit units, such as integrated circuit chips (ICs) and hybrid integrated circuit (HIC) modules, are conventionally housed in suitable plastic or ceramic packages to protect them mechanically, electrically and chemically. However, such packages are not always capable of efficiently dissipating the heat generated by the circuits. In order to overcome this problem, a given package is provided with a heat sink that is attached to its outer surface. Typically a heat sink utilizes an array of elongated fins arranged on a common platform. The heat sink is often used in conjunction with a cooling fluid, such as air, circulating through the spaces between the fins for conducting the heat away from the circuit. One example of a prior art pin-fin heat sink, 61, mounted on a pin grid array package, 62, is shown in FIG. 6. In FIG. 7 is shown another version of a prior art channeled-fin heat sink, 71, mounted on quad flatpack package 72. A drawback of the prior art heat sink is its relative high cost. A pin-fin heat sink is made by a costly process of machining out of a block of metal a plurality of square pin fins. Furthermore, a channeled fin heat sink is highly dependent on the direction of the cooling fluid flow. The fluid flowing through the channels between the fins of the channeled-fin heat sink removes heat much more efficiently than the fluid flowing transverse to the heat sink.